Short hair: The best cut for your hair type

Hair

Short hair: The best cut for your hair type

Maybe it’s the hot, muggy weather that is inevitably on its way that has you itching to take your hair shorter. Or could it be just how stunning celebrities like
Emma Watson and Ginnifer Goodwin look with their super cute short hair that’s giving you the urge to slash off your mane? Either way the freedom of a short haircut that will keep you cool and polished-looking all summer long is high on our summer checklist.

Whatever your motivation, a huge part of what
short haircut will work on you is dependent on your hair texture, says Tony Masciangelo of The Alcorn Salon in Toronto. “You want to ensure the hair lies flat,” he says, adding that your stylist should cut your hair when wet and then fine tune the cut when dry. “It should be cut when wet, dried and then finished with touches to fix the weight in certain areas, and to customize it to your face by adjusting the bangs or the hair line,” he says. Another thing he insists on? A short haircut can work on everyone and every hair texture, even on a heavier-set person (who are often told short hair is a no-no), he says. “I wouldn’t do a bob—with the straight line of hair across the neck—on someone heavier, but something with more softness, perhaps a shag style, is an option,” he says.

What to look for in a short haircut based on your hair texture? Masciangelo shares his expert advice.
Fine hair If your hair is fine, your stylist should make tiny, precise cuts, in little sections of about half an inch, he says. “This is so that the hair blends together softly. With fine hair, you have go with more of a precise cut because if you take big sections, you’ll get tiny pieces next to longer pieces and it will create bumpiness,” he says. What you want is for it to lie smooth and flat. Think Mia Farrow’s hair in Rosemary’s Baby.
Thick hair With coarse, heavier hair, for a short hair style, you want to take some of the weight out of your hair as you build in shape, says Masciangelo. The use of thinning shears or a razor that will help make your hair lie more flat will work best.

The best short hair options for curly and wavy hair on the next page ... Curly hair With curly hair, you should go short with an inch or two of hair in square layers, he says. “Because your hair is already round in texture, if you cut round layers, it’ll become like a bowl; you need to counteract it with squareness,” he explains. Also, when your hair is really curly, he adds, naming Halle Berry as an example, you do want to go quite short because at a longer length, your hair starts to open up and expand, creating the look of holes, gaps and separation at the scalp.
Wavy hair Like with curly hair, your layers should be square in shape to help prevent a bowl-looking hair shape. Masciangelo says you can also opt to go slightly longer in length, more like a shag cut (think Southern California surfer girl, he says).